In the current information age, there are often discussions of the desirableness of a paperless society. However, notwithstanding such discussions, there remains a need by users of computers and information terminals for printing functionality. Therefore, devices having printing functionality, such as printers, copiers, multi-function devices, etc., continue to play a significant role in information technology (IT) at home and at work.
Further, mobile devices such as smartphones, notebook and laptop computers, PDAs (personal digital assistants), tablet computing devices, and so forth, are becoming extremely prolific. Such devices allow the user to access documents and data in many different locations. In many cases, a mobile device is employed to access information, while the user is on-the-go, in an IT environment with which the user may not be familiar and/or in which the user is unaware of the IT resources available to the user in that environment.
In such mobile culture, digital maps and floor plans (each of which is broadly referenced herein as a “map”) are employed to assist the user to locate things, people, etc. Although some digital maps also provide annotations, such annotations are typically hard-coded and the user does not necessarily have the option to add his or her own annotations. In the few instances in which the user can add annotations to the digital map, such annotations can only be placed in preassigned locations which is not particularly helpful when the annotations are directed to a specific object shown on the map, but the identity and/or location of the object cannot be readily determined from the annotation.
There remains a need for improvements to allow users to optimize use of digital maps.